Ice tray



M. K. BUCHANAN Jan. 24, 1950 ICE TRAY Filed April 23, 1946 INVENTORM'rfiae/K lac/74nd udwa ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 24, 1950 UNITED STATESTEPATENT OFFICE .1013 TRAY "Michael K Buchanan, Norfolk,'-Va.

Application April 23, 1951.6, Serial No.:664,3.80

7 Claims. (01.62-4085) This invention relates to ice trays and moreparticularly to an improved construction of an ice'tray having'means forreleasing the 'ice cubes from the ,pan and from the grid.

In my prior Patent 1,983,535, granted January 10, 1933, I have disclosedan ice tray comprising -a pan and a grid provided with means 'forraisingthe grid in the pan to'release the ,grid and the 'cubes, irozenthereto,from the pan. In the construction disclosed in that patent the grid isrigid and the cubes therefore remain bonded to the grid when the cubesand grid are released from the pan.

In Reissue Patent 18,819, granted onMay L2,

1933, to Albert G. Horton and me, there is disclosed animprovement overmy earlier patent in Y which the grid is made in'tvvo relatively movableparts andin which means are provided 'for raising one of the parts of'thegrid. Thisresults not only in releasing the grid and the cubes'frornthe pan but also'in releasing the cubes 'fromthe grid.

The device of the present invention is an .im-

provement over the devices of the two prior ,pat

'ents. In the development of ice trays, various means have been providedfor releasing the cubes from the pan and the grid, such means usually Ythe ice cubes.

In the present invention I .have provided an improved construction forreleasing the cubes from the pan and the grid in which a minimum offorce is required and in which the cubes are released withoutshattering. In carrying out the invention I provide a pan ofconventional .con- 'struction and a grid member. The grid memberconsists of a pair of longitudinal members and a plurality of crossmembers or fins. An operating lever is secured .to the longitudinalmembers adjacent-each end'and is provided with a toe or extensionoverlapping the lupperedgeof the pan. When the levers are swung 'ontheir pivots, the difference in the distance ,-from,the

pivot to the point of connection to the two longitudinal members causesrelative movement of the ...result that the initial movement of thelevers :causes .an upward movement of therentire grid,

thus loosening ,the cubes .from the bottom, side and end walls of thepan.

Further movement of the levers, after the 10s motion has been taken up,causes upward movement of one of the "longitudinal members with respectto the other and I therefore vprovide means -for spreading or separatingthe longitudinal members when this relative movement .occurs. Theseparation of the members moves the "ice cubes outwardly or laterallyand thus releases them from the longitudinal members and the crossmembers of the grid, freeing the cubes.

Any suitable means may be employed for separating or spreadingthelongitudinal members. One such means, herein illustrated, is toprovide projections .on the surface of .one of the members and openingsor depressions in the other members in. which the projections arenormally re- -ceived. When the two members are moved relatively to each.ot'herjto bring the projections out of alignment with the depressionsor openings,

the projections engage the surface of the second longitudinal member:and cause the members to 'spread.

Such construction provides a tray from which ice cubes canbe readilyremoved and in which the'cubes are'not shattered or broken whenreleased.

"In the accompanying drawing I have shown one form of the invention. Inthis showing: Fig. 1 is a plan view; Fig. '2is a longitudinal, sectionalview online 22 of Fig. -1, showing the grid in lowered position withinthe pan for the freezing of cubes;

a point where the entire grid has been moved upwardly in the pan toseparate the cubes from the-bottom, side and'end'walls of thepan;

"Fig. 5 is -a similar view showing further upward movement of the leverscausing separation of the longitudinal members :and release of the cubesfro'm the grid; I

"Fig. 6 is a transverse, vertical, sectional "view 1 on line 6--6-ofFig. 5;

Fig. "'7 is a similar View on line 1- of Fig 5;

I and Fig. 8 is a detail'ed-sectional view'on line of Fig. 1. 'gj'Referring"to the drawing, the reference mimeral I designates generallythe pan which may be tor'any suitablesize and'shape'. 'Thepan'lis fpreferiably .iormed of aluminumoran aluminum alloy, although it may beformed of any other metal or of any material which is heat con ductive.As shown, the pan is provided with side walls 2 and end walls 3 and 4.Either or both of the end walls may be curved as indicated at 4 tofacilitate release of the cubes from the pan and the side walls mayslant outwardly from bottom to top to further facilitate the release ofthe cubes. The juncture of the vertical walls and the bottom of the panis preferably mounted as at 5.

Within the pan I provide a grid designated g n;- 1 erally by thereference numeral 6. As shown, the. grid consists of a pair oflongitudinal members 6 and l and a plurality of cross members or'fins 8.The cross members may taper in thickness from the center to each endtofacilitate the release of the cubes from the grid. The longitudinalvided with a relatively wide slot l 6 at the bottom 9 and is furtherprovided with a tapering slot ll extendin from a point just above theslot ID to the upper edge and being of a width substantially equal tothe thickness of the two cross members at the top. One of thelongitudinal members, illustrated as the longitudinal member 6, isprovided with a plurality of openings ll equal in 'number to the numberof cross members and these openings II are connected to the bottom edgeof the longitudinal member by slots l2. Arranged to align with theseopenings are slots 13 formed in the lower edge of the longitudinalmember l. The upper edges of the longitudinal members are provided withspaced pairs of ears M to receive the upper edges of the cross members.

The grid is assembled by arranging the longitudinal members adjacenteach other as shown in the drawings and then inserting the cross membersso that the sections l5 between the bottom of the slot ll of each crossmember and the top of the slot I is passed through the slot l2 in-one ofthe cross members and is arranged in the slot l3 in the other crossmember. When this section l of the cross member enters the opening II,the

cross member is turned to a vertical or nearly vertical position and theupper edges are received between the pairs of ears [4.

The grid actuating means comprises a pair of This mean may consist ofregistering 26 and the pin or bolt 24 passes through an opening 26 inthe ear 2|. The openings 25 and 26 are of greater diameter than the pinsor bolts 23 and 24 so that upon initial upward movement of the leversfrom the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing to the position shownin Fig. 4 of the drawing, no relative movement occurs in the twolongitudinal grid members but an upward movement of the entire grid as awhole takes place.

The operation of the device is as follows: The grid is placed in the panwith the bottom of the grid in engagement with the bottom of the pan.The bottom of the pan may be provided with several pairs of spacedprojections 21, formed by stamping or otherwise, to receive thelongitudinal members and properly position the grid in the pan. The gridis of course properly dimensioned and shaped to be received in the pan,that is, if one end wall of the pan is sloped as indicated at 4, thecorresponding end of the grid is similarly shaped and the cross membersare properly dimensioned to extend to each side wall 2 of the pan.

With the grid arranged in the pan in the position shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawing, the tray is filled with water and placed in the freezingcompartment of a refrigerator in the usual manner. After the water hasbeen formed into ice cubes, the tray is removed from the refrigerator.To remove the cubes from the tray, the levers l6 are first movedupwardly from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig.4. This movement of the lever I6 causes the toes or extensions I! tobear down on the beaded edge 28 of the pan and raise the grid, with thecubes attached to it from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the positionshown in Fig. 4. The two longitudinal members 6 and I remain in closecontact with each other with the projections 38 in the openings 9because no relative movement takes place between these two members. Theslight upward movement of the grid, however, is suincient to free thecubes from the bottom, sides and end grid members 6 and 1 to theposition indicated levers I6, one being arranged at each end of thetray. These levers are provided with extensions I! extending over thebead 28 formed on the edge of the pan and engaging this bead when thelevers are actuated to serve as a fulcrum. The

longitudinal member 6 is provided with a recessvided with an ear 2|adjacent the recess IS. The

actuating levers are. provided with slots 22 which straddle the ears and2| and between the two portions of the lever on the opposite sides ofthese slots, pins or bolts 23 and 24 extend. The pin or bolt 23 passesthrough an opening 25 in the ear upper end of the slot H.

in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing. This is due to v the fact that the pin24 swings in a larger arc than the pin 23 causin greater relativemovement of the longitudinal grid member 1 than the movement of themember 6.

The relative movement of the longitudinal members brings the projections38 out of alignment with the openings 9 in the grid member 6. As theprojections 38 engage the surface of the grid member 6, the lower edgesof these members are spread, the movement of the upper edges of themembers being limited by the width 0f the This spreading of the loweredges of the grid members is sufficient to push the ice cubes outwardlyor laterally and "release them from the grid. The thus released cubesmay either be dropped into the pan or taken out of the grid sections.

I claim:

1. An ice tray comprising a pan and a grid,

the grid comprising a pair of longitudinal mem bers arranged beside andin contact with each other and a plurality of cross members secured tothe longitudinal-membersa lever at each end of the grid secured .to eachof they longitudinal members and having a portion adapted to engage theadjacent edge of the pan to initially raise the grid in the pan when thelevers are actuated, means for moving one of the longitudinal membersupwardly with respect to the other upon further actuation of the levers,and means for spreading the lower edges of the longitudinal members uponupward movement of one of them with respect to the other.

2. An ice tray comprising a pan and a grid, the grid comprisin a pair oflongitudinal members arranged beside and in contact with each other anda plurality of cross members secured to the longitudinal members, alever at each end of the grid having a fulcrum portion adapted to engagethe edge of the pan to initially raise the grid in the pan when thelevers are actuated, each of the levers being connected to thelongitudinal members at different distances from the fulcrum portionwhereby further movement of the levers causes relative movement of thelongitudinal members, and means for spreading the lower edges of thelongitudinal members from each other upon relative movement thereof.

3. An ice tray comprising a pan and a grid, the grid comprising a pairof longitudinal members and a plurality of cross members secured to thelongitudinal members, a lever at each end of the grid having a fulcrumportion adapted to engage the edge of the pan to initially raise thegrid in the pan when the levers are actuated, each of the levers beingconnected to the longitudinal members at different distances from thefulcrum portion whereby further movement of the levers causes relativemovement of the longitudinal members, and projections formed on one ofthe longitudinal members, the other longitudinal member being shaped toreceive the projections and permit the longitudinal members to benormally positioned in close contact with each other whereby relativemovement of the longitudinal members causes spreading of the lower edgesof the members.

4. An ice tray comprising a pan and a grid, the grid comprising a pairof longitudinal members arranged beside and in contact with each otherand a plurality of cross members secured to the longitudinal members, apair of levers, one at each end of the grid, connected to both of thelongitudinal members and having a fulcrum portion to engage the edge ofthe pan to initially raise the grid in the pan upon actuation of thelevers, lost motion connections between the levers and the longitudinalmembers whereby further movement of the levers causes relative movementof the longitudinal members, and means for spreading the lower edges ofthe longitudinal members upon relative movement of said members.

5. An ice tray comprising a pan and a grid, the grid comprising a pairof longitudinal members and a plurality of cross members secured to thelongitudinal members, a pair of levers, one at each end of the grid,connected to both of the longitudinal members and having a fulcrumportion to engage the edge of the pan to initially raise the grid in thepan upon actuation of the levers, lost motion connections between thelevers and the longitudinal members whereby further movement of thelevers causes relative movement of the longitudinal members, andprojections formed on one of the longitudinal members, the otherlongitudinal member being shaped to receive the projections and permitthe longitudinal members to be normally positioned in close contact witheach other whereby relative movement of the longitudinal members causesspreading of the lower edges of the members.

6. An ice tray comprising a pan and a grid, the grid comprising a pairof longitudinal members normally arranged side by side and a pluralityof transverse members, one of the longitudinal members being providedwith projections and the other longitudinal member being shaped toreceive said projections to permit the members to normally be positionedside by side, and means for moving the longitudinal members relativelyto each other to bring the projections of one member out of alignmentwith the shaped portions of the other member and cause the lower edgesof the longitudinal members to spread.

7. An ice tray comprising a pan and a grid, the grid comprising a pairof longitudinal members normally arranged side by side and a pluralityof transverse members, one of the longitudinal members being providedwith projections and the other longitudinal member being shaped toreceive said projections to permit the members to normally be positionedside by side, a lever con nected to each end of the grid and having aportion engaging the edge of the pan to raise the grid in the pan uponinitial actuation of the levers, further movement of the levers causingrelative movement of the longitudinal members to bring the projectionsof one of the members out of alignment with the shaped portions of theother member and spread the lower edges of the members.

MICHAEL K. BUCHANAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date

